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Thursday, December 21, 2000
Wahine take On a near-flawless shooting night by point guard Janka Gabrielova, the University of Hawaii women's basketball team capped a perfect run in the Ala Moana Hotel Paradise Classic.
bite out of
visiting Cougars
Galloway gives an MVP
performance as Hawaii wins
the Paradise Classic titleBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinThe host Wahine (9-2) posted a 3-0 mark in the tournament with an impressive 85-74 victory over Houston (6-5) last night in the championship game at the Stan Sheriff Center before 735 fans.
Hawaii was helped to its fifth straight win overall by Gabrielova, who missed just once from the field (2-for-3) and once from the line (7-for-8) for 12 points in 32 minutes of play.
"I just wanted to win and I played hard," Gabrielova said after being named to the all-tournament team. "I'm so happy; it felt great. In the beginning (of the season), it was so hard, but now I know exactly what coach (Vince Goo) wants from me."
In the earlier third-place game, Detroit Mercy downed Eastern Washington, 67-62.
After receiving major contributions from its bench in the two previous contests, Hawaii's starters once again stepped to the forefront against Houston.
Senior team captain Kylie Galloway led the way with a 31-point, 8-rebound performance en route to being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
The Wahine's three other starters made significant statistical contributions as well. Crystal Lee finished with 16 points -- hitting 8 of 11 free throws -- and adding seven rebounds; Dainora Puida had six points and a game-high 11 boards, and April Atuaia eight points and four rebounds.
Freshman sensation Chandi Jones led the way for the Cougars with 21 points in the loss.
Joining Galloway and Gabrielova on the all-tournament team were Puida, Jones, Detroit Mercy's Shari Hill and Eastern Washington's Jennifer Paluck.
Hawaii jumped out in front from the start of the game on consecutive 3-point baskets by Galloway. The Wahine never surrendered the lead throughout the contest, building the biggest bulge at 51-29 during the second half on another Galloway trey.
The Cougars made several late charges, including a 14-2 run in the final minutes, but could never close the gap.
Houston had difficulty containing Hawaii's multi-prong offense. The Wahine shot 48 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range.
"That was a huge win for us," Goo said. "They (Houston) are going to beat a lot of people down the stretch so that win is going to be big for us. Maybe coming into conference season we're showing that maybe we can shoot the 3's. If people are going to respect that a little bit, I think it's going to open up our game on the inside for our big people."
As good as the Wahine were on the offensive side of the ball, they also were impressive on the defensive end. The Cougars convincingly defeated perennial powerhouse Louisiana Tech earlier this season, yet Hawaii held Houston to just 23 first-half points.
But Houston also shot itself in the foot by converting just 56 percent on foul shots (18 of 32 to Hawaii's 31 of 37).
"When you're playing a good basketball team, there's little room for error," Cougars coach Joe Curl said.
"But the University of Hawaii is as good a basketball team as we've played all year and we've played a great schedule.
"They're just physical and they compete. I think we were erratic, but I give Hawaii a lot of credit for making us erratic."
All-Tournament Team
MVP--Kylie Galloway (Hawaii). Dainora Puida (Hawaii), Janka Gabrielova (Hawaii), Chandi Jones (Houston), Shari Hill (Detroit), Jennifer Paluck (Eastern Washington).
Hawaii 85, Houston 74
Cougars (6-5, 2-1 AMHPC)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Oliver 0 2 2 2 1 1 2 24 Jones 8 20 5 9 4 2 21 35 Lida 1 2 0 1 2 3 2 24 Sykes 4 16 2 4 4 0 11 32 Lasseter 4 10 0 1 6 0 8 21 Shanklin 3 8 1 2 1 3 8 23 Carter 1 1 2 2 1 0 4 4 Noel 2 3 5 8 3 0 9 17 Fenderson 2 2 1 2 0 0 5 8 Stavropoulos 2 4 0 1 4 0 4 12 Team 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Totals 27 68 18 32 31 9 74 200 Wahine (9-2, 3-0 AMHPC)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Galloway 10 19 5 9 8 1 31 38 Gabrielova 2 3 1 1 4 5 12 36 Lee 4 9 0 2 7 2 16 32 Atuaia 2 6 1 1 4 2 8 30 Puida 2 4 0 0 11 3 6 31 Brossmn 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 Roper 0 2 0 0 5 1 3 5 Greeny 1 3 1 3 3 0 5 15 Allen 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 6 Team 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 23 48 31 37 44 15 85 200 Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime score-Hawaii 43, Houston 23
3-point goals-Hou 2-11 (Shanklin 1-3, Sykes 1-2, Jones 0-4, Oliver 0-1, Lida 0-1), Haw 8-16 (Galloway 5-9, Greeny 1-3, Gabrielova 1-1, Atuaia 1-1, Lee 0-2). Personal fouls-Hou 26, Haw 21. Fouled out-Oliver, Jones, Shanklin. Steals-Hou 8 (Jones 2, Shanklin 2, Lida, Sykes, Lasseter, Noel), Haw 3 (Galloway, Lee, Puida). Blocked shots-Hou 5 (Lasseter 2, Oliver, Sykes, Stavropoulos), Haw 6 (Roper 5, Greeny). Turnovers-Hou 6, Haw 20. Technicals-Houston bench. Officials-Lewis, Yamasaki, Apo. A-1,646.
Detroit Mercy 67, Eastern Washington 62
EASTERN WASHINGTON (3-7): Chase 0-2 0-0 0, Pilkington 1-4 1-3 3, Nygaard 0-2 0-0 0, Bennion 0-0 0-0 0, Demetruk 0-5 1-2 1, Paluck 10-25 4-5 27, Granger 2-6 0-0 4, Bailey 4-12 0-3 8, Thoelke 0-5 0-0-0 0, Carlson 6-12 3-5 15, Ruen 1-4 2-5 4. Totals 24-77 11-23 62.
DETROIT (6-5): Wild 0-0 0-0 0, Yoches 1-3 0-0 2, Henry 1-7 2-3 4, James 4-12 1-1 9, O'Dea 0-0 0-0 0, Moss 1-2 1-1 3, Hill 6-13 0-1 15, Peterman 7-18 3-4 17, Savalli 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman 0-0 0-1 0, Bortz 3-7 1-2 7, Crum 4-6 2-2 10. Totals 27-68 10-15 67.Halftime--Detroit 32, Eastern Washington 28. Rebounds--EWU 55 (Bailey 12), UDM 46 (Bortz 10). Assists--EWU 15 (Granger 5), UDM 9 (Yoches, James 3). Total fouls--EWU 17, UDM 23. Fouled out--Bailey, James.
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